A general contractor and good friend of mine from my woodworking days, called me and asked me if I would be interested in fabricating a porthole for a boy’s bedroom. I had done one out of wood about 15 years ago, and so I was excited about this opportunity to make one out of metal. The little boy loves sharks, so this porthole will be mounted into a wall and display a backlit picture of a shark. Here are the pictures to show the process of making this piece a reality! I had a blast putting this together and can’t wait to show it to my friend and his client!
After some CAD layout I started cutting parts and bending the ring for the actual porthole.
Cutting the bent piece of flat stock to the exact length took some time.
I had to tap it in place with a hammer, and it fit tightly.
Here is a pic of the inside.
After tack welding the inside ring, I hammered it flush with the pottom edge and started to weld it in place.
I went back to the CNC plasma table and cut pieces of the wall flange, welded them together and cut the face ring to hold the glass in place. Here is the porthole placed in the wall flange.
I cut some more pieces to add more detail to the porthole.
The pieces after bending. The relief cuts make bending easy!
The pieces after welding.
Checking fitment of one of the pieces.
Starting on the hinge to make this porthole operational.
Some more pieces cut from 1/2″ plate to complete the setup for the hinge.
Another picture!
Making sure the parts work together before I get ahead of myself.
Welding the mounting blocks to a hinge section.
Tack welding the face ring to the porthole.
After welding all the way around,
Grinding the weld flat to the face.
Grinding the side all the way around, This setup allwed me to rotate the piece and work at a comfortable height.
Rounding the edge.
All the parts are fitted together and ready for finish welding.
Clamping everything in place.
A closeup of the hinge assembly before welding.
Finish welded this portion to the wall flange.
Finish welded this hinge portion to the porthole.
Another image from the other side.
First test of the hinge, and it worked like a charm!
Another image of the open porthole.
A closeup of the open hinge.
Clamping the locking tabs to the porthole before welding.
Welding the locking tabs.
More of the same!
I found these forged eye bolts, and all parts worked perfect for what I wanted to use them for!
Nut welded from the backside to the wall flange.
A closeup of the pothole clamped shut.
Another picture of this detail.
All the bolts placed in the wall flange to show the finished look.
Picture of the finished porthole.
Another view!
Another view. I’m really happy how it turned out! On Monday I will cut some mounting plates and washers for the hinge , and it will be done!
